Identifying Customer Loyalty with Online Banking
Bank Online by splinder · Leave a Comment
The banking industry is extremely competitive. To maintain current customer base while adding more customers to the list, banks offer all the latest and greatest products, services, and technologies available. However, the goal is not having a large customer database but having loyal customers. Unfortunately, many banks confuse the two, which means some of the features and functions customers actually need are not being offered.
Banks need to understand specifics about what builds and maintains a loyal customer so appropriate changes can be made. Otherwise, bank officials are shooting in the dark, and more times than not, missing the mark. However, when officials listen to what bank customers really want with online banking services, a new world of opportunity opens and the result is a larger number of customers but customers that are 100% loyal to the bank.
Interestingly, if you were to put 100 bankers and 100 bank customers in the same room and asked all of them for their perception of online banking, the answers would not only be dramatically different between the bank and customers, but also unique to each person. Therefore, it is imperative that everyone get on the same page, which can only happen by everyone having a voice but also, everyone listening and agreeing to work together on a solution.
Although online banking is not a new offering, compared to other technologies, it is still in infancy. Because of this, it is common for studies to focus more on the service itself and not the perception of the service. Instead, studies need to be conducted that concentrate on what drive consumers to or away from online banking to include the way online banking has been accepted and methods for improving usage.
One recent study involved 599 online bank customers and the results showed that usage of this service had very little to do with gender, income, or education level. Even the cost to use online banking had little effect on the consumer’s opinion or conception of this form of banking. One option for changing things is for financial institutions to change the perception. A prime example has to do with security. Most bank customers have the perception that banking via the internet is unsafe. By educating the public about the types of security measures in place and proving their worth, perception would change.
Another example would be ease of use. Some people have the perception that going to a brick and mortar bank is actually easier and more convenient than using an online service. However, offering the public with interactive marketing campaigns so they can experience online banking first-hand through demonstration would sway current thinking. The bottom line is that the perception of many people will never change but by addressing each concern individually and showing consumers the truth, would definitely help some people.
Online banking is an exception solution that provides tremendous benefit. However, bank officials cannot simply tell the public what they have to offer and how great it will improve their life is not the solution. Instead, providing information that is absorbed differently would help people see that online banking could be a very important tool for managing money.
